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There are many different kinds of reptiles that live in Virginia. Some of them you may hate, or are scared of, (snakes, possibly crocodiles), but there's no reason to be.
Whoa, don't be frightened. It's just an Eastern Ratsnake.
First, and foremost, crocodiles only live in Florida, just like alligators. Then there are snakes, why are you scared or unsettled by snakes? Is it the way they move? Is it the way they stick their forked tongue in and out of their mouth? Do you think they'll bite you, and you will die? The last fear is extremely unlikely. There are only three venomous snakes in Virginia, the Eastern Copperhead, the Northern Cottonmouth, and the Timber Rattlesnake.
Eastern Copperhead
Eastern Gartersnake
According to the Wildlife Center of Virginia, 7,000-8,000 people in the U.S.A. get bitten by venomous snakes every year, and only around 5 people die. Those people die because they have an allergic reaction to the bite or they had a weak heart. These venomous snakes will not deliberately come and bite you. Like sharks, they only bite in self defense, if you leave it alone, it will leave you alone. I'm not saying that you should love snakes, like I do, and that your instinct is wrong, but snakes are living things and you should respect them. Snakes help us too; farmers love snakes because they eat things, rats and mice, that eat their crops.
I haven't seen any sea turtle yet, but they do live in Virginia. Sea turtles are really struggling throughout the world, because of global warming. You may think that's odd because turtles are reptiles, and reptiles are cold blooded, which means that they can't make their own body heat, so the warm temperature would make them more comfortable. The reason why climate change is affecting sea turtles is that, just like crocodiles, the gender depends on the temperature of where the mother buried her eggs. If the temperature is hot then when the egg hatches then it will be a girl, and vise-versa. So, more girls are hatching than boys, so it's harder to reproduce.
Eastern Painted Turtle
Northern Red-bellied Cooter
My information came from The Virginia Herpetological Society and The Wildlife Center of Virginia.
I love the Red bellied cooter. The name just sounds like so much fun.
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